THIRSTING FOR GOD
(NLT)Psalm 42: 1-2 - As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?
(NLT) Psalm 63: 1-5 - O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body
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Look at Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

The Happiness of a Hungry Heart
As Jesus continues to communicate the blessings that come from beatitude living, let’s summarize what we’ve learned so far.
Matthew 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The Almighty applauds us when we see our condition
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World Hunger Sunday: God’s judgment will come on a people whose consumption habits oppress others and whose patriotism masks greed. But God will continue to send blessings on a people who will invest more in others.

The laws of physics say that what goes up must come down. You pitch a rock into the air and right away it comes down with a thud. Hendricks throws a football in a long arc out over the New York Giant defenders and knows that it will come down, he hopes into the hands of Monk or Clark or Sanders who
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We think that we must protect what we have, and do not see those in need as brothers and sisters in disguise. But God puts back in our sacks more than enough when we walk on a mission of mercy and a journey of faith, caring for the hungry and needy.

Takoma Park Baptist Church, Washington, DC, October 16, 1988 (World Hunger Sunday)
Somehow, when our whole orientation is consuming and enjoying and entertaining ourselves, we pay no attention to anything beyond today. What we have today we use, and assume that tomorrow will take care of itself.
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God offers us a midnight buffet (like on a cruise) of spiritual blessing to people who are hungry and thirsty.

Introduction
We love a buffet!
If you have ever had the opportunity to go on a cruise...
and one of the highlights for many people...
is the midnight buffet!!
Have you ever experienced this phenomena?...
They actually open the buffet line earlier than midnight...
not for people to
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A sermon on the poor, the mourning, the hungry, and the persecuted (Introduction taken from Sermon Central's Adrian Pratt at: http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/inside-out-and-upside-down-adrian-pratt-sermon-on-christian-love-33979.asp)

HoHum:
Inside out and upside down. What on earth was Jesus talking about here? Blessed are the poor? Happy are the hungry? Fortunate are the tearful? I never heard anybody say, “Isn’t this great, I’m starving!” I have never seen a person sobbing their heart out with a smile
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A proud young man who came to Socrates asking for knowledge. He walked up to the muscular philosopher and said,
"O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge." Socrates recognized a pompous numbskull when he saw one. He led the young man through the streets, to the sea, and chest deep into
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Matthew 5:6-Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.
Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine (Wine is what we drink at the Lord’s supper to represent His blood)
Jesus’ first temptation is hunger, which the devil tells Him to turn the
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“Help for Hungry Hearts”
Acts 8:26-40
Acts 8:26 “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch
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The gift of "giving" is perhaps closest to God's heart. What is it about this gift that makes it so special, and how can we know if we have this particular gift?

OPEN: One preacher told of the time he found himself in a situation where he truly needed to announce publicly what he was giving to a special church offering. “This wasn’t for the purpose of boastfulness, for I was only giving $25, although, at that time, that was significant to me.
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God is merciful and calls us to be as well. But what does mercy look like and how can we know when we've gotten it right?

OPEN: I once read the true story of a preacher was organizing an evangelistic outreach using small acts of kindness to demonstrate Christ's love. He phoned several neighborhood grocery stores and Laundromats for permission to do specific services.
On one call, the employee who answered the
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Jesus did many miracles but only 2 are told about in all four Gospels. One is the miracle of Jesus' resurrection... and the other is the miracle of the feeding of the 5000. The question is "Why are these 2 the only miracles listed that in all 4?"

(Note: I put a large piece of Matzah bread on the communion table for a physical illustration later in the sermon)
OPEN: (We put a “McDonald’s sign” – without the word McDonalds – up on the screen)
Does anybody recognize this? That’s right, it’s the symbol for McDonalds. The first McDonalds
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